Aurora Pride will welcome all, including police officers, during this year’s festival this August.

Earlier this week, PrideFest Denver and other celebrations in places such as New York City barred police officers from participating in the event. Although discussions to bar officers occurred, Aurora’s organizers opted against it.

“Our decision was a tough one and it came down to the concept of being inclusionary,” said officials from Aurora Pride in a statement to The Denver Gazette. “Aurora Pride’s tagline is “Pride for All’ and we understand that including Aurora PD could lead to members of our community feeling excluded, but at the same time there are over 50 openly LGBTQ+ officers and management at Aurora Police.”

Instead of barring them, the Aurora Pride board is using it as an opportunity to bring APD, NAACP, the Black Lives Matter Movement and Black Pride to the table to discuss how to create a plan to make everyone feel welcomed, and start conversations on rebuilding trust.

APD Division Chief, Stephen Redfearn, a gay man who annually participates in both Aurora’s and Denver’s celebrations, said he was hurt when Denver excluded him and his fellow officers.

Redfearn said APD uses the event to not only celebrate, but to show people that you can be a part of the LGBTQ+ community and work for a police department.

“My concern is that the message that is being disclosed from this parade sends to either someone who wants to get into law enforcement who identifies as such, or current younger or newer officers that it is not okay to be gay or a cop,” Redfearn said. “We’re doing everything we can to diversify, and the message getting sent by Denver pride organizers to me is that it’s not okay to be LGBTQ+ and a cop.”

Redfearn said law enforcement in his 20 plus years have changed drastically. Initially he never though he was able to come out due to his profession, but now is one of the first openly gay division chiefs.

Although Aurora Pride is continuing to allow officers to participate in their celebration on Aug. 7, their organizers said they understand why other festivals are making the opposite decision.

“We see how our Black, Brown, and Transgendered communities live in fear of the police, but also see the hypocrisy in telling an LGBTQ+ officer that they need to hide their identity in order to attend our event,” organizers said.

Redfearn acknowledged that tensions between the public and police departments are extremely high, but suggests that instead of prohibiting people from events, they should welcome them in for a conversation.

“Like anything else we’re doing in law enforcement right now, we have to have conversations, and we’ve come a long way in this profession, especially after such an eye opening last year and a half with everything that’s going on in this country with policing,” Redfearn said. “Without those conversations, relations can never get better.”

Traditionally, Aurora Pride gathers thousands of people from across Aurora and the metro-area. In 2019, around 6,000 members participated in the celebration, organizers said.

Even though Aurora’s celebration is going against some of the other festivals across the country and in Denver, organizers echoed Redfearn’s sentiment of healing through conversation.

“While we don’t agree, we support all Pride organizations in their efforts to ensure the LGBTQ+ community feels safe,” organizers said. “We just believe that bringing people together is a stronger tool towards healing the community’s relationship with police,” organizers said.